Plot Reservation System Proposal

[Serendair]

Hello everyone! I believe I had an interesting idea how the housing scarcity could be helped to an extend without any additional drama (I hope). The idea came to me when I read the "Housing lock" thread. I could have posted it there but I probably get yelled at "to move on through", or in any other thread about the lack of plots issue but honestly I truly believe that this is a good idea that I hope SE reads and maybe can turn into something useful. FFS tell us already? Sorry.. here goes:

I was thinking of a reservation system similar to what it is like when you're reserving tickets for a movie premiere. How it would work? Like this:

[Serendair]

• You log on the mogstation, go to additional services and choose Housing Plot Reservation.

• You choose the character you want to reserve a plot with (so the system knows if you're character has unlocked the requirements to purchase land) and the area you're interested in (Mist/Beds/Goblet) and a map for main and subdivision opens (like it would when reserving seats for a movie).

• There it shows which plots are available and you can click on those that are, to reserve them to your character. For a small fee similar to eternal bonding items or any other items you can buy in the item store you are now able to reserve a plot.

• Once a ward (main and subdivision) is booked let's say 80% they will implement this additional ward during the next maintanance. The reservers will be informed via email or ingame mail in some way.

• Booked plots will be locked for purchase to anyone else but the character who reserved it for the fee (marked with an additional symbol that yet has to be created). That plot will be reserved for the now well known 45 days. Within those the reserver can now purchase that land for the common plot price. The remaining 20% of the ward that were not booked will be free for anyone to claim.

Downside: again a first come first serve strategy where again you might not get the plot you wish for but you can always wait for the currently bookable ward to go live just to sign in for the next ward. Alternatively they could start a waiting list if certain plots are more loved than others. So you can either buy a different one if your plot of dreams is taken and you don't want to wait or you are being put on a waiting list for when the next ward comes up for reservation. And yes I do see that SE would make quite some money with that if they charge fees for it but honestly if I didn't have a house already I would be willing to pay for a reservation so I get mine with the next maintanace. And seeing that ppl are willing to pay for that eternal bonding stuff it seems alright to me. Idk if I just created a huge wall of bs or if this is a useful idea. You are to judge!

[ruskie]

You can get free eternal bond stuff so lets not bring in real money into this.

They could simply give the option in game to talk to a NPC and you give them a list of plots(let's say 3 or so - it should automatically add the subdivison equivalents to it as well so that gives you 6 plots as an option) you are interested in and the first one that gets freed will be reserved for you for no more than 3 days. The list would go first come, first served. They can notify you via email automatically already - since they already do that for reclamation.

[StouterTaru]

Downside: again a first come first serve strategy

The bigger downside is that it's a convoluted system mixing in real cash with the actual solution of adding wards.

Easier solution: add those extra wards you're talking about, keep the minimum price where it is but set the starting price for the first ward at 20x the minimum. After it sells out, add another ward. Second ward added starts at the rate for the first sale from the previous ward, by server. Flipping gone, 5 minute buyout gone.

[Reinha]

If the plot has to be free in order for you to reserve it, how will it help the situation where the freed up houses are sniped by resellers or just faster clickers? It's the same amount of people competing for the house no matter if they do it in game or by lurking in the Mog Station. I've also seen a suggestion about showing the demolish timer on houses, but that would also just be a matter of who clicks their buttons the fastest. It's a mere illusion of having a chance and would only move the competition to another platform.

With too little an amount of houses, free plots will go to 1) the first buyer/booker, 2) the highest bidder or 3) a random buyer. The first favors those most determined and with the best connection, the second favors the richest and the third favors no one but makes housing a worse gamble than Jumbo Cactpot. Right now we have a combination of 1 and 2. Note that none of the three methods of competition would be needed if there were enough houses.

Your suggestion relies on the assumption that enough new wards are made to meet demand, but unfortunately that's pretty much the core of the problem: new wards are not made in time.

[Serendair]

Reinha is right, my suggestion does rely on the assumption SE is willing to creat more wards depending on the demand. Which I doubt SE will do for nothing. In the end it just means more working hours for them which equals in more workers and with that more wages to pay. Putting an option for reserving ingame therefore will do nothing for the creator except producing more work. People only work for money so their work actually pays out.

The eternal bonding example was to show that on the one side there are ppl who are willing to pay actual money for vanity items (ppl I know all went for platinum not the free) and on the other side there is SE who happily work a little harder when being paid. Also I was not thinking of a lot. Maybe like 3 Euros as for one of the minions.

Yet I don't think it moves the current problem to a different platform. This is where the original example from the movie tickets comes in. Do ppl whine and cry over not getting a seat in the premiere night just because someone was faster buying the seats? No. Well sometimes. At least not to such an extend. They just settle for a later time and date and wait a little longer to see the movie. Same thing for the house. If I don't get my house this update I'll get one with the next in a couple of weeks.

Well, seems like that idea wasn't as good as I thought after all. Considering what you guys suggested it would either need a fair player base or SE would have to be a lot harder on those reselling plots for riddiculous high amounts of money. Idk. In the end I'm just trying to find a solution for the situation that not only satisfies the playerbase but also would make the creators happy to do it for us. Since ppl don't live from love-your-next alone I did come to the assumption that the only way would be some sort of a real money trade situation with the creators themselves as messed up as it sounds.

[ruskie]

Well, seems like that idea wasn't as good as I thought after all. Considering what you guys suggested... In the end I'm just trying to find a solution for the situation that not only satisfies the playerbase but also would make the creators happy to do it for us...

Not as good but not bad as well. The reservation system would make it impossible to resell to a specific player. Thus would kill off that market instantly. But also why I limit it to 3 days at most.

Overall an active reservation on a full plot would last 45 days after which you would need to renew it(this would be shown in your timers window). After the plot is freed you get notified and have 3 days to purchase it. If you don't it passes on to the next in line and so on until no more reservations at which point it becomes a free plot.

[Solarra]

The eternal bonding example was to show that on the one side there are ppl who are willing to pay actual money for vanity items ...
...Also I was not thinking of a lot. Maybe like 3 Euros as for one of the minions...

...I did come to the assumption that the only way would be some sort of a real money trade situation with the creators themselves as messed up as it sounds.

To answer your points:

Yes, people will pay real money for vanity, but a house isn't just vanity.
We waited months for our FC house and it has radically changed how we play the game and socialise as an FC. Best purchase ever. It gives us access to stables, airships and the Aetherial wheel thingy for buffs (which we haven't looked at yet) all of those are utility things, not fluff.
I know you can use another company's airship to go to the Diadem but it doesn't give nearly as much benefit as having your own.

Most important, housing is heavily promoted as a feature of the game, not an optional extra. I'm paying a sub, that should be enough. Being able to pay for extra retainers is bad enough, introducing more micro-transactions that give you an advantage in game is not the way I'd like to see things going.
I know you said you weren't thinking of charging a lot of money, but if this was implemented it wouldn't be up to players to set the price and there is no guarantee it would be low.

The main problem with housing is there isn't enough.
Personally, I feel it would be better to keep up the pressure for extra wards and instanced personal housing, both of which are being introduced rather than give the impression that we'd be happy to pay real money for something that ought to be available to everyone.

On the other hand, if there was a system in-game that allowed you to put your name down for a house in a particular area and made a list of players/companies who would then be offered available houses on a first-come-first-served basis, then I could get behind your suggestion.

[Serendair]

<FC advantages>

Honestly I didn't think of that point at all. And it's a very good and valid one! (in my defense: I never used it before so....... hehe ) I was just seeing it from an objective point that somebody else stated yesterday as well in the thread "Just came backlost my house!" (which got deleted for some reason?). SE is a company and the sole purpose of a company is making money. If something isn't a profitable source of income it's not on top of the priority list.

Looking at the additional content with the FC housing I think you're absolutely right saying

I'm paying a sub, that should be enough. (...) rather than give the impression that we'd be happy to pay real money for something that ought to be available to everyone.

Considering you're locked out of content yes, it should be free and for all to use. My apologies for leaving that rather big part out of the equation.

I do like this idea a lot:

On the other hand, if there was a system in-game that allowed you to put your name down (...)

So we need an NPC in each housing area where you can put your name down that you're interested in a Small/Medium/Large house in general and would buy one if only any were available. That helps SE knowing how many plots are wanted/needed. Next update: enough wards for all! (Again wishful thinking hoping SE hears our pleas! )

I fail to understand the actual issue that stops SE from implementing as many wards as are needed to satisfy the demand already. There must be a solid reason for it else they would have done so already, no? If somebody knows, please share, because I really would like to understand.